Ideas for a Faux Finish to Go Over Dark Red Paint

Use tinted glaze and brushes or faux-finishing combs to create the look of texture.

If a dark red paint finish seems too intense on the walls or a piece of furniture, tone it down with a faux finish. Faux techniques allow you to create the look of wood or fabric, a color wash or distressed finish, all while keeping as much or as little of the red paint visible as you want in the finished project.

Faux Bois: Fancy Name for Faux Wood Grain

Create an interesting twist on a wood-grain finish using the dark red as the base "wood" color, and another shade such as indigo, white or black as the grain. A clear glaze, mixed with a bit of a second paint color, serves as the shade for the grain. Test a few different glaze and paint-color combinations over a scrap of cardboard or wood painted red to see which version you like best before tackling the actual project piece. Once happy with a grain color, brush the tinted glaze over the red paint, then drag a wood-graining comb or rocker tool through the wet glaze to create fake wood grain. The rocker tool allows you to create knots and grain variations by rocking the tool up and down as you drag it through the glaze. Create faux red wood for drawers on a desk, for a funky tabletop or the portion of a wall beneath a chair rail, for instance.

Aged or Distressed Effects

Add the look of age to a dark-red project by painting on and partially removing layers of different colors. Rub candle wax over the entire dark-red area; then apply a coat of another shade of paint, such as lemon yellow. Sand through the top paint color in areas that wear the most, such as on corners or edges of a table or near handles on a desk drawer. Repeat the process with wax and another paint color to make the piece look as if it has been painted many times over the years. Another way to add faux aging is with tinted glaze in charcoal gray or honey yellow. Rub the glaze on with a rag or foam brush; then wipe most of it away with a dry rag. Distress the piece even more by hitting it with a hammer or bag of nuts and bolts a few times before adding the dark glaze; the glaze pools into dents and details.

Awash in Colors

A color wash tones down the red, giving it a soft, warm appeal. Mix a tinted glaze in a shade such as white, yellow or orange to make the red seem a little less dark. Apply the glaze with a brush using bold crossing strokes, then wipe most of the glaze off with a rag. Go over the wet, ragged glaze with a feathering brush or a brush with soft bristles to soften the color difference between the glaze and the red paint. A darker color such as black or cobalt blue over the red adds a rich depth to the original red. Use the dark glaze on relatively small areas, such as a piece of furniture, rather than on all the walls in a room to avoid making the space feel too dark.

Faux Fabrics

Create a subtle fabric-style effect using tinted glaze and rubber faux-finishing combs or steel wool. Apply gold glaze, or any shade other than red, over the red project piece with brush; then drag the rubber comb through it in parallel lines. Leave the finish as-is for a striped effect, or go over it again at a 90-degree angle for a gingham or plaid effect, depending upon the tooth spacing on the comb. Create a faux raw-silk finish by dragging a ball of steel wool through wet glaze, working in parallel lines, wiping the excess glaze off the steel wool between passes. For a leathery look, apply dark glaze with a brush; then roll balled-up plastic bags through the wet glaze. Soften the effect with a feathering brush afterwards.

About the Author

Kathy Adams won several investigative journalism awards from the Associated Press. Adams has ghostwritten several books and content for A-list musicians' websites. She is equally at home repurposing furniture and found objects into art as she is managing bands and community gardening efforts, running non-profit organizations and writing about healthy alternatives to household chemicals.